Artistic Release

My five year old daughter, Olivia, must have about 100 paintings to her credit. Many times while dad is painting she has to also… Livie got acrylic paints, brushes, and an easel for Christmas and was well armed for her first plein air outing with dad this past Sunday. The out of season weather at 75 degrees had plenty to do with our choice to make Sunday afternoon… the day a new plein air painter was born.

We set up at the Cedar Point State Park and Maritime Forest to paint a marsh scene.

I drew a simple sketch of the scene for Livie and she quickly got busy with her brush.

I was quite impressed at how well she was doing… she asked me what colors things should be and I taught her how to look and notice things. She soon was able to recognize her colors and only needed my help in asking what colors she had to mix together to get the colors she needed… which she mixed and applied.

We met many people as we positioned ourselves on the boat ramp near a dock. Olivia was quite the social butterfly as usual talking to each and everyone who came by… saying things like… “Me and my dad are painting”… “You can buy my dad’s painting but mine is not for sale”. We had a great time talking to Donnie and Connie (I think… sorry if I’m wrong) Banks who took the pictures of us together…. including this one of the artists at work and the view we were painting.

Don’t you just love that hand on that hip?…. that’s our Livie!

Here’s Olivia’s first plein air painting… she titled it…

“Daddy’s Art Class”…  Artist: Olivia ,8×10, Acrylics on canvasboard, en plein aire, 1-14-2007.

Here’s mine…

“A Pleasant Afternoon at Cedar Point”… 5×7″ Oil on Panel, en plein aire, 1-14-2007.

Needless to say… Olivia finished before I did and found time to make mud pies and play in the water…

As you can see from that last photo the tide began to come in on us… the day and paintings were done…

A GREAT day… a GREAT painting day… a GREAT father and daughter day!

Last week I spoke to Livie’s class as a salesman… this week is “A” week and I went as an Artist. We had a great time as usual and the children were very receptive. I actually set up a small still life and painted for approximately 2 hours while they had class. I was ease dropping while painting and was quite amazed at all the things they are learning.

“A” is for Artist…

Pictured here with Mrs Davis’ kindergarten class. Livie is holding a painting she did when she was four (see Young Artists for the whole story)… Livie’s portrait is on display (didn’t get time to work on it this week).

“A” is for Apple…

I painted a Still Life demo for the class after we talked about being an artist….

Mrs Reynolds and the kids even painted apples… literally…

Livie making her apple stamp… they do so many COOL projects in class…

The finished painting… “An Apple for the Teacher”… I gave the painting to Mrs Davis as a memento of our FUN day!

“An Apple for the Teacher”… 9″x12″ Oil on panel, alla prima from life, September 27, 2006.

Thanks class for a GREAT time!

Bernie (Olivia’s Dad)

Side Note: I took several paintings to class to show the kids the differences between landscapes, portraits, still lifes, etc… I took the portrait I painted of Jesus and a boy asked me if it was a painting of me… I told him it was a painting of Jesus to which he replied… “How did you know what he looks like?”… out of the mouth of babes…

Here are some interesting thoughts on the matter and my painting mentioned… What does Jesus look like?

Finally finished working under the water and began on the surface. Used Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, and Portland Grey Deep in the highlights and reflections. I still need to work some areas (especially around Livie’s foot and the small rock) a bit.

Can’t wait to start that white dress…

S is for Salesman… whoops… Salesperson…

Wednesday I went to Livie’s class on behalf of “S Week” to talk about my job as a Salesman. We had a blast and the kids asked great questions and made cool statements like… “I have a baseball trophy at home”… “I play soccer”… “I, I, I, I,… have a new baby brother at home”… you get the picture. I even got to eat in the cafeteria with the class where Livie spent time as the informer giving me the inside scoop about several kids… “Dad, there’s the boy we pray for”… “There are my best friends”… “There’s the girl who eats glue”… “Dad, that boy threw a desk”… Guess what? The girl that eats glue is one of her best friends!

S is for Storytime…

I got to read a Dr Seuss book to the class…

S is for Snack…

We even had a S snack… Skittles!

S is for Silly Shoe day…

I participated (ratisipated as Livie would say)… here’s a photo of me and Livie’s silly shoes…

S is for Singing…

We closed by playing and singing Olivia’s favorite song… “We Will Rock You”… even Mrs Davis joined in on the fun! Livie’s in the middle with the red shirt on with one purple cowgirl boot..

I’m going back for “A” week as an Artist!

More on the painting tomorrow…

Bernie

Olivia’s best friends are Chelsea, David, Jeremiah, Ben, Katlin, Kailin, and Brett… so far… she said she’ll let me know who else makes the list soon. She was “Good Citizen” yesterday. Mrs Davis said to me Monday morning… “I don’t know what you guys were worrying about… she’s doing just fine”.

Update:

Finished the area underneath the water… next stage I’ll be scumbling the highlights and reflections on the surface of the water.

Olivia just informed me that her dress is supposed to be white and the water is supposed to be blue… patience dear…

Livie mentioned a little boy in her class that was having a tough time adjusting to school life so mom mentioned we should pray for him. When I picked her up Friday… she said… “We don’t need to pray for ____ tonight because he was good in school”… out of the mouths of babes.

Update:

Finished Livie’s legs and feet and began on the flat rock she was standing on… also began creating more depth in the water. You can actually see just how far I got working on the water here… I simply used Sap Green which is transparent and thinned with a tad of Liquin… varying the thickness to match the scene. I have been painting in a direct manor over the under-painting with the exception of this area where I am glazing. Glazing gives a depth and luminosity to the work.

More later….

Bernie

Livie continues to LOVE school. She finally got to go to computer lab this week and today she even checked out her first library book. I checked her out early Wednesday for her 5 year physical… I thought I had her because they called her to the office for me… I asked her if she was scared when the “lady in the ceiling” called her to the principal’s office (you all remember her daily count down) but she informed that she wasn’t worried because she knew it was either me or Doctor Gant.

Update:

Had about two hours to myself on my day off so I decided to tackle those feet while there was peace and quiet around the house… I had been putting them off as long as possible…

BTW… her physical went fine… healthy at 3′10″ and 49 1/2 pounds. She needs one shot but I opted to wait for a day when mom can take her…

Until next update…

Bernie

Highlights from Livie’s last couple days at school…

Picture day… she informed me that she let ‘the picture guy” take two photos but she didn’t smile for any… she did wear the dress mom picked out without to much of a fuss.

Livie informed us she’s a “lunch-boxer” with the alternative being “milkers” and “hot-lunchers”… we’re gradually learning the lingo.

She loves art, music, PE, and the library but has been ticked because they haven’t gone to the computer lab two Thursdays in a row.

Update:

Worked on the water area building up colors seen under the water… gonna let them dry before adding details to that area.

Hope to paint more on Wednesday…

Bern

Olivia’s excitement for school continues as well as mine with this painting. She was a “Good Citizen” yesterday and even got to clean the tables in the cafeteria after lunch. She informed me that she has gone 6 days without being sent to the principle’s office… everyday she gives me that info with the number of days… she has included her orientation day in the total. Yesterday… as I was walking her to class we saw a young boy from her class crying and walking out with his dad… Olivia said, “Dad aren’t you glad I’m not a cry baby about school”…

Had to include this tid-bit… Below is a picture of Livie’s “Me Box” that she decorated and carries to school every Friday with an item from home that she shares with the class during “show and tell”. She included a picture of me, mom, and Dylan… oh yea… that’s Jimi Hendrix in the middle holding a blue fish… Livie’s quite a unique artist herself.

Update: 

As for the painting… continued to work on the rocks (same palette as listed before) and added highlights to the hair using naples yellow and yellow ochre.

Until next update… have a great day!

Bernie

After day four… Livie is still loving school! Today is her first “Hurricane Day” and school is closed thanks to Ernesto.

Update:

Painting directly over my under-painting trying to finish areas as I go. Still need to apply highlights to hair…

skin tones:
light red
burnt sienna
yellow ochre
ultramarine blue
titanium white

hair:
burnt umber
yellow ochre

rocks:
portland grays by Gamblin
ivory black
sap green
burnt umber
titanium white

This will be my last update until mid next week… going on a quick trip to the mountains for the holiday weekend… that is if Ernesto lets us…